New HVX Steadicam Shot

JackFoley said:
These images have quite heavy motion blur on the background due to the movement of the cam and it's panning. So I would expect the background to be very blurred and have no visible grain. But as you can see here there is actually a lot of noise/grain even in the motion blurred areas.
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The movement of the camera blurring the image would have no effect on reducing noise. The noise is coming from the CCDs and/or DACs. (Would be the same for a blurred image or still image.)

It would be a different case if you applied a motion blur filter later in post. Then, the noise/grain would be blurred by the filter, making it less noticeable.
 
Looks awesome to me, breathtaking, as good as I want for quite some time. And everyone concerned about noise, just don't bother buying one, and wish that you did, once you keep seeing all the gorgeous work pour in from owners of this camera.

When will the fearful doubtful contingent ever be satisfied?
 
I like the grain on those stills. It's organic, a little more like a filmstock and less like video. You could always use grain reduction software. I'm sure when more footage pours in people will figure out some workflows.
 
I hear you Isaac, but we all know noise reduction software destroys image resolution. It's a trade-off.

I'm really hoping Panasonic is hearing our concerns about noise levels.

If they could reduce the noise levels, this adjustment will no doubt be one of the largest deciding factors for the people who are on the fence of buying this camera.

We can see that it offers reasonable latitude and decent color space. It has all the goods, that's for sure.

The Canon H1 seems to be decent in the noise department.
The footage of the mother and girl in what appears to be a dawn, or dusk shot. Nice rendition with low to no noise.

Steve
 
I just don't think the noise is as bad as people are saying. And I think that most people are commenting on H264 footage as well as footage sources that have undergone encoding. The raw footage doesn't look as bad as people make it seem.

I'm experimenting with basic noise reduction in After Effects and you can get pretty good results with some color grading, curves, black crushing, and basic noise reduction. The image is quite usable and will look great with good lighting.

Obviously there are tradeoffs for the chips and pricepoint and amount of noise we're seeing. I'm not denying the noise, it's definitely there, I'm just glad that the picture looks as good as it does, and there's no annoying splitscreen down the middle.
 
I've thought the same thing Isaac in regards to the noise. People have been throwing a pissy over the noise, but I've yet to see anything THAT bad in the noise department. I understand the concern over noise, but with the way people are talking, you'd think the camera looked like +18 noise levels in a +0 gain which it clearly isn't.
 
I don't know this Spinflight guy personally, but I like him :)

Thanks for posting the great file. Pulled it up in FCP on the 24" Dell and I don't know what all the negative fuss is about. This is not going to do what film or a 100k digital camera can do, but man it looks great to me.

We can geek-it to death, but I'm betting with this camera in the right hands and the right script, actors, etc. the average viewer is not going to care. ( I know I'm repeating what many people have said before)

Thanks again Spin.
 
luvly jubly

luvly jubly

thanks spinflight & jackfoley ... although i cant view the moving stuff , the frame grab/still's look very nice and filmic.. these are the type of images that should have been on the panasonic site rather than that atificial looking car/composite shot.

what steadicam rig was used???

thanks for the effort to get these shots viewable..
 
The "steadicam" is a Hollywood lite VZ Aviator. believe it or not, the lite panel mounted on top actually helps to stabalize the camera better. It kind of acts like a film magazine making the camera taller and heavier. We all know if you've ever flown a DV camera it's incredibly hard to get good smooth shots because the mass is so little. Heavier rigs have more inertia thus allowing the camera to stay put a lot easier.

I did add a 5 pound weight a few inches undrneath the sled as well to compensate for the lite. You can slide this up and down the shaft until you get your balance right. If you're new to steadicams, it's not as easy as it looks, You need to practice quite a bit to get those smooth hollywood shots. Try different weight combinations for your configuration to get the results you're looking for. Practice, practice, practice.

Your gait with which you walk also makes a huge difference. The key is to get your hips as motionless as possible(particularly the up and down motion). It's really a matter of scurrying your legs underneath your body when you walk/run, leaving your upper body motionless.

I know I got discouraged after my first attempts, but after practicing, it becomes a nice tool in the arsenal. I didn't take a class so my learning curve was probably a lot higher.

Again this was shot a 0 detail. I forgot to save when I initially pulled it down to -5. Always check your settings when your turn on the camera. There's so many things to overlook when pushing away at the buttons. Give your self a check list if you want to aleviate your brain. We have enough things to think about just gettting the shot right.

As for the noise issue everyone keeps bringing up, I think I'll be able to work with it just fine. My Sony FX1 has more(and the compression is terrrible to work with) Also, tube TV's tend to make them dissapear. LCD's and Plasmas, shows it a little more. This is just transitional technology anyway. SED will be what replaces both of them soon enough and then we'll all be in la la land.

Remember, we're working with 1/3 inch chips here. Sometimes I think the 2/3 inch chips are too noisless and could be dumbed down a bit to add a little character. All personal preference.

We are not working with film here. We are not going to get those silky images that 35mm will produce. Whole other ball game folks. But if you know that this is a completely different medium I think we'll be alright. We call this demo-itus in the music industry, We get so used to hearing/seeing things one way that we have an issue when it's different from what we're used to. I know, cause I do it all the time.

OliverM said:
Just had a good look at it. It's stunning. Bit of grainy noise in the background but nothing distracting or troublesome. Really nice footage, the best I've seen from this cam so far.
Nice cars to. :) Range Rover, Mercedeses, Bmw X5,... and a Porsche Cayenne right? :)
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I'm a bit embarrassed about the cars. The garage is full of them. We have a lot of Hollywood actors that live in my complex.
 
I just saw it using FCP on my dual 450mhz G4. Finally some footage that doesn't sputter and pause with H.264.

All I can say about the footage is WOW. Now that's what I was waiting to see! DVX quality imagery in HD for sure!

Don't know what all the hubub is about with regard to noise. Unless you're inspecting the footage with a magnifying glass, you won't notice it. Now I'm excited about this camera again. The footage from kaku put me on the fence for the price point.

Need to see some stuff with a 35 adapter before I make a purchase though. The P2 workflow, computer upgrade and extra hard drives is giving my bank account heart palpitations.
 
STORYTELLER32 said:
All I can say about the footage is WOW. Now that's what I was waiting to see! Don't know what all the hubub is about with regard to noise. Unless you're inspecting the footage with a magnifying glass, you won't notice it. Now I'm excited about this camera again.
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Yes! Exactly! :D

STORYTELLER32 said:
Need to see some stuff with a 35 adapter before I make a purchase though.
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I realize the 35mm imager may soften the image a bit. But I'm not too concerned. Looking like the wait is definitely worth it.
 
Spinflight said:
Hi folks,

Just a quick 24 second clip of a singer friend of mine who volunteered to be my test subject.

The clip was shot in an underground parking lot with available flourescent light. The camera was on a steadicam rig and had a Lite Panel mounted to give some fill. I had reservations about using this lite at first but now I hardly shoot without it. These lights are pretty amazing although pretty expensive. I got a set of two so I could always keep one on charge. They usually stay lit for about an hour and a half and takes about that much time to charge.

I'll have some dolly and jib shots sometime in the near future.

This was shot at 720/24p All the settings were at 0 except for the Master Ped at -8.
The clip is a a full res .mov file. 123.7 megs. I think -6 for the Ped might be the magic number.

Download here: http://www.spinflightstudios.com/hvx

enjoy
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spin,
what up. saw the footage, looks great to me. now my question is this. was the lady wearing a lav, did you have an external mic on cam or was it the cam's internal mic. i just loved the audio when she spoke.
 
I looked at the pics, I have to switch to a different work station to see video. But the Pics look awesome from the HVX. Thanks for sharing your good work...



Michael Pappas

LINK TO XLH1 MATERIAL: http://www.pbase.com/Arrfilms

Arrfilms@hotmail.com
PappasArts & Arrfilms Main site
http://www.pbase.com/Arrfilms
http://www.PappasArts.com
http://www.Myspace.com/


Spinflight said:
Hi folks,

Just a quick 24 second clip of a singer friend of mine who volunteered to be my test subject.

The clip was shot in an underground parking lot with available flourescent light. The camera was on a steadicam rig and had a Lite Panel mounted to give some fill. I had reservations about using this lite at first but now I hardly shoot without it. These lights are pretty amazing although pretty expensive. I got a set of two so I could always keep one on charge. They usually stay lit for about an hour and a half and takes about that much time to charge.

I'll have some dolly and jib shots sometime in the near future.

This was shot at 720/24p All the settings were at 0 except for the Master Ped at -8.
The clip is a a full res .mov file. 123.7 megs. I think -6 for the Ped might be the magic number.

Download here: http://www.spinflightstudios.com/hvx

enjoy
Click to expand...
 
Maurice Jolly said:
spin,
what up. saw the footage, looks great to me. now my question is this. was the lady wearing a lav, did you have an external mic on cam or was it the cam's internal mic. i just loved the audio when she spoke.
Click to expand...

Sanken CS1 Mounted on the camera.

It was so spur of the moment so I didn't take the time to mic her. I never use the mic on the camera, although I should try this one sometime.
 
Absolutely loved the footage

Absolutely loved the footage

This is my first post, I've been reading the forum for a good while. Just wanted to weigh in- I loved the footage, both the way it was shot and the quality of the camera's picture. I've shot film for years and never ever thought I'd shoot video artistically, but after owning the DVX 100A for a year and seeing the HVX footage, I doubt I'll ever go back to film.

I'm not seeing what the big concern over noise is. To me it looks a lot like a good film stock.

I'm looking forward to receiving my HVX whenever i t comes ( as long as it is not six months from now)

Thanks for the footage.

seamus
 
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